Winter's Angel

Part 2

The soldier stars blankly ahead until he hears a soft voice from the rickety bed in the corner of the room. "H-hello?" Harsh lights flick on overhead and he's able to see her small frame topped off with a mess of auburn hair falling in her face, shadowing her hazel eyes. She looks up at him with panic and a soft smile plays on his lips. The soldier stalks closer to her, scanning over her features.

He stops and kneels down in front of her. "What do you feel?" The girl looks at him with a blank expression as she decides her next move. "I won't ask again, what do you feel?"

"Anger." She lied, eyeing the handsome man in front of her.

His eyes shift and he grabs her arm, pulling her closer to him. "Don't lie to me." He growls. "Tell me what you really feel."

"Fear... I'm terrified."

"Why?" Her gaze drops, fixating on his metal arm, the soldier notices. "Me? You're scared of me, angel?"

She nods her head slightly. "Should I be?"

He huffs and removes his grip on her arm, turning away from her as he spoke. "There are worst things for you to be worried about here."

"I-I'm Elise." She rushes out, fearing he'd leave her alone. Friend or foe, she didn't care. The soldier was the only person she'd had contact with since waking from the procedure and the poor thing couldn't remember anything from before. He stopped mid-step and looked over his shoulder at her, and a wave of emotions flooded both of them. "What's your name?"

"Why does it matter?"

"I think I'm entitled to the name of the man I share a brain with." The soldier turned around, his eyes narrowing as intimidation rolled off his body but Elise could see through it. The link gave her full access to everything he felt, especially when he looked at her and the main thing she felt was pity and guilt. "Why are you guilty?" She asked, cocking her head to the side as she stared up at him.

"I'm not." He lied, looking her over again.

"You're lying."

"Why tell the truth, you won't believe anything I have to say."

"Who told you that?" Elise took a step closer to him. "You're the only person I've talked to the entire time I've been here. I have no reason to not believe you."

His eyes narrowed again and he moved directly in front of her, his nose inches from hers. "I'm not guilty, angel."

She scanned through his mind again. "You're still lying to me."

"Why do you think I'm guilty?"

"Because deep down you know the only reason, I'm here is because of you..." He was caught off guard by that. The soldier wasn't prepared for the truth to be in the open like this. "Now, please, tell me your name."

"That's true, angel." His arrogance was palpable in the air. "I'm Bucky. James Bucky Barnes."

"Bucky..." Elise whispered to herself. A soft smile played on her lips and she took a step closer to him. Bucky stood in place, curious to see how close she'd get before stopping. "Should I trust you?"

"I'm the only one you should trust here. You were made for me, that means that you belong to me."

Bucky could feel the annoyance and anger from Elise. "I don't belong to anyone."

"That's where you're wrong, angel." Bucky said, pulling her close to him and holding her body against his. They will kill you, I'm the only chance you have at making it out of here alive.

"W-what was that?" Bucky smirked and picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist, pressing her back against the wall. Their eyes meet and she hears his voice in her head again. Where do I know you? His words were much softer now, like he'd waited an eternity to just talk with another human being.

"I'm part of you now... just like you're part of me." Elise relaxes a little and leans her head on his shoulder.

"How do you know that?" He asked, nuzzling his face against her neck, breathing in her scent.

"I saw it... through the link." Bucky's heartbeat quickens and another image flashes through his mind. The fear he feels isn't for himself, it's for the angel wrapped in his arms. "We're never getting out of here, are we?"

Bucky pulls away and looks at her as silence fills the air. He wants nothing more than to lie to her- to tell her that he's going to walk out the door and out of the compound right now with her safely tucked in his arms but he can't. He knows that she could see through any lie he'd try to give her. The air around them is tense, and he tightens his grip on her again. "I don't think so... but you better believe that I'm going to do everything I can to at least try to get you out of here. The thought of you going through even a fraction of what I have is..."

"Hey, take a breath big guy." Elise leans up and kisses his cheek. "We'll figure it out... we have to."

I've tried. Multiple times throughout the years I've been here, I've tried.

"You were trying to get out by yourself, now you have some help." An image of Bucky kissing Elise flashes across his mind and Elise sees it, causing her to blush. She tries to hold it in her mind's eye for a moment but it quickly blurs and fades away. He looks embarrassed that it slipped through. "It's okay, Bucky."

His eyes widen, realizing how much she just saw. "I won't do it. I won't take that choice from you when so much of your life has been robbed away already."

Elise rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "What if it's my choice?"

"I'm no better than our captors... I've killed people, I've beaten people, I've done unimaginable things for Hydra."

"You didn't do any of it because you wanted to. They forced you to do it."

"How do you know?"

"I can see it. Everything they've ever done to you; everything they ever made you do. I can see it." Bucky's eyes soften again as he looks down into hers. I'm going to get you out of here, angel.

Elise closes the gap between them, softly brushing her lips against his for a moment before pulling away again. "I know, Bucky." The pair stay wrapped in each other's arms, letting the emotions swirl around them. Bucky uses the mind link to whisper sweet nothing's to her: you're beautiful... I promise to protect you... I'm going to get you out of here.

Elise's mind was filled with images from him. A particularly steamy image floods her vision and she blushes, looking up at him. "Bucky..."

"Yes, angel?"

"You're driving me nuts."

He smirked and leaned down to kiss her. "Good, then you know exactly how I feel." Bucky leaned in again but was interrupted by the door swinging open. His head whips around as Pierce steps through the door. "Put her down, soldier."